Tag Archives: East London

The August conservation task is on Sunday 6 August 2017, in the Green Flag awarded Waterworks Nature Reserve, formerly the Essex Filter Beds.

We will be working in the filter beds doing reed bed management, clearing an area outside the reedbeds with a bramble bash and constructing a hibernacula.

The task will help to maintain the successional nature of the filter beds around the wellhead, which demonstrate the reclamation of an industrial site from open water to deciduous woodland.

The filter bed we are working in is a reed bed. This reed bed is a nesting site for Reed Bunting and Reed Warblers and a hunting ground for Grass Snakes, which can be observed swimming in the pools. If this reed bed was not managed it would dry out and become a grass meadow, which has been allowed to happen to the other beds in the sequence of nature’s reclamation process.
The bramble bash will use slashers and loppers to clear an area where we will construct a hibernacula. Previous hibernaculum construction tasks have resulted in a healthy growing population of grass snakes at the Waterworks Nature Reserve.

Join Us

As always everybody is welcome to volunteer with LBCV. No experience is required. Please wear sturdy footwear and appropriate clothing for the work and weather.

We can provide wellingtons in the morning and you must return them. So please arrive in plenty of time to select your pair. Please bring some lunch.

LBCV will provide tools, training, gloves, tea, coffee and biscuits.

Please arrive from 9:30am onwards at the Waterworks Centre Lammas Road, off Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London E10 7QT, for a 10am start to the task. The meeting place is the former golf centre across from the former Greyhound Public House on Lea Bridge Road. We will leave at 10am for a walk to the task site.

Please wait by the reception counter, even if the receptionist claims to know nothing about LBCV !! We will be around, setting things up for the task.

Please lock bicycles to the stands in front of the Waterworks Centre. There is ample free car parking there too. Dogs are not allowed on the Nature Reserve so please do not cross the bridge with dogs or ride bicycles in the nature reserve. Dogs are still welcome on some tasks, but NOT this one. Please read this article if you think we are being draconian http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6978272.stm

As usual we will have post task refreshments in the Hare and Hounds on Lea Bridge Road.

Volunteering and doing a conservation task with LBCV in North East London, is great way to meet new people, learn new skills, use old skills, be more active, get closer to nature, make a difference and have some fun with like minded people in the Lea Valley Regional Park.
If you use the Facebook like us at either www.facebook.com/lbcv.org.uk or https://www.facebook.com/groups/119714882254/ if you want to be sent LBCV invites to our tasks via Facebook. LBCV is now on Twitter so if that is your social media channel https://twitter.com/LBCV_London.

The July conservation task is on Sunday 2 July 2017, in the Waterworks Nature Reserve, where we will be removing invasive species.

Waterworks Nature Reserve Gates

The task will help to control goat’s rue in the meadow areas and remove the need for herbicides to be used.

Why is goat’s rue classed as invasive ? It is a non-native hardy perennial that forms dense crowns, each plant can produce over 15,000 seeds that remain viable for 10 to possibly 26 years.

Goat’s rue is so-called as it was given to nanny goats to increase their milk yield, but it was found to be toxic to ruminants with the potential to induce a build-up of excess fluid in the lungs, low blood pressure, paralysis and death.

June 2015’s Invasive species pickings

Join Us

As always everybody is welcome to volunteer with LBCV. No experience is required. Please wear sturdy footwear and appropriate clothing for the work and weather. We will be working in long grass meadows.

We can provide wellington boots in the morning. So please arrive in plenty of time to select your pair.

Please arrive from 9:30am onwards at the Waterworks Centre Lammas Road, off Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London E10 7QT, for a 10am departure. The meeting place is the foyer of former golf centre across from the former Greyhound Public House on Lea Bridge Road.

Please lock bicycles to the stands in front of the Waterworks Centre. There is ample free car parking. Dogs are not allowed on the Nature Reserve so please do not cross the bridge with dogs or ride bicycles in the nature reserve. Dogs are still welcome on some tasks, but not this one. Please read this article if you think we are being draconian http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6978272.stm

As usual we will have post task refreshments in the Hare and Hounds on Lea Bridge Road.

Volunteering and doing a conservation task with LBCV in North East London, is great way to meet new people, learn new skills, use old skills, be more active, get closer to nature, make a difference and have some fun with like-minded people in the Lea Valley Regional Park.

If you want to be sent LBCV invites to our tasks via Facebook then like us at www.facebook.com/lbcv.org.uk or https://www.facebook.com/groups/119714882254/
LBCV is now on Twitter too https://twitter.com/LBCV_London.

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On Sunday 4 June 2017, LBCV will be doing invasive species management on Walthamstow Marshes(SSSI). We will be removing Goat’s Rue from the North Marsh.

Conservation Task Details

Walthamstow Marsh is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI, pronounced “triple S, I”) declared under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act. Covering 55.4 Hectares (136.9 acres), it is part of a Green Flag Awarded Nature Reserve that also includes Coppermill Fields and Leyton Marsh. This Nature Reserve is a remnant of London’s once widespread river valley grasslands and is especially important for its plant and insect life containing a national rarity in creeping marshwort along with long-stalked orache, black poplar, brookweed, penny-royal, water vole, bats; soldier-flies, snail-killing flies, orthoptera, reed bunting, linnet and song thrush. The marshes are former Lammas lands, in that commoners had rights to graze there from 12 August to 6 April.

The aim of the task is to help keep the Marshes free from invasive species.

Goat’s Rue is an invasive plant that for several years, until 2013, LBCV, was devoting a summer task to pulling goat’s rue on South Marsh. This year’s pulling of Goat’s Rues will be on North Marsh. Goat’s rue is so called as it was given to nanny goats to increase their milk yield but it was found to be toxic to ruminants with the potential to induce a build-up of excess fluid in the lungs, low blood pressure, paralysis and death.

How is it invasive ? It is a non-native hardy perennial that forms dense crowns, each plant can produce over 15,000 seeds that remain viable for 10 to possibly 26 years.

Why remove ? Walthamstow Marshes are under Higher Level Stewardship in that they are being grazed by traditional bred cattle, Belted Galloways, so having goat’s rue growing where cattle are grazed is not ideal and the area is also surround by bridle paths so there is a need to control the goat’s rue in these areas.

Join Us

As always everybody is welcome to volunteer with LBCV. No experience is required. Please wear sturdy footwear and appropriate clothing for the work and weather.

We can provide wellingtons in the morning and you must return them. So please arrive in plenty of time to select your pair. Please bring some lunch.

LBCV will provide tools, training, gloves, tea, coffee and biscuits.

Please arrive from 9:30am onwards at the Waterworks Centre Lammas Road, off Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London E10 7QT, for a 10am departure. The meeting place is the former golf centre across from the former Greyhound Public House on Lea Bridge Road. We will leave at 10am for a walk to the task site. Volunteers are welcome to meet us on site, before the tools talk, please text 07757 766950, before 9am on Sunday, so we can provide enough tools and gloves.

Please lock bicycles to the stands in front of the Waterworks Centre. There is ample free car parking there too. Dogs are not allowed on the Nature Reserve so please do not cross the bridge with dogs or ride bicycles in the nature reserve. Dogs are still welcome on some tasks, including this one, we just request that their owners wait with the LBCV catering team at the Waterworks Centre, while the tools are loaded. Please read this article if you think we are being draconian http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6978272.stm

As usual we will have post task refreshments in the Hare and Hounds on Lea Bridge Road.

Volunteering and doing a conservation task with LBCV in North East London, is great way to meet new people, learn new skills, use old skills, be more active, get closer to nature, make a difference and have some fun with like minded people in the Lea Valley Regional Park.
If you use the Facebook like us at either www.facebook.com/lbcv.org.uk or https://www.facebook.com/groups/119714882254/ if you want to be sent LBCV invites to our tasks via Facebook. LBCV is now on Twitter so if that is your social media channel https://twitter.com/LBCV_London.

Task Report Sunny day to remove a patch of reed and grass that could over shadow any creeping marshwort in the scrape.

Before

After

Creeping marshwort on Walthamstow Marsh May 2017

On Sunday 7 May 2017, LBCV will be doing a practical conservation task on Walthamstow Marshes(SSSI) to help the nationally rare Creeping Marshwort, Apium repens (Jacq.) Lag., Apiaceae. It is classified as Critically Endangered in the UK and classified as Vulnerable in Europe.

Creeping marshwort on Walthamstow Marsh May 2017

Conservation Task Details

Creeping Marshwort, Apium repens (Jacq.) Lag., Apiaceae, is a small, creeping perennial that is listed under the Habitats Directive because of its scarcity and decline in Europe.

Creeping marshwort, Apium repens (Jacq.) Lag., Apiaceae, is known in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and in the Canaries. In Europe it is widely scattered, being found at sites in the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium and Holland. It grows in a wide range of habitats from mown graves in Austria, riverside gravel banks in Slovenia, under water in Italy, to slightly saline pasture and dune slacks in Holland.

Creeping marshwort has always been rare in England and Scotland with sites in Essex, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Fife and Argyle. During the 1960s it was only known at three sites in Oxfordshire and by the 1970s it was only observed at one site in the whole country. In 2002 it was discovered growing on Walthamstow Marsh, by botanist Brian Wuzzell, near a ditch created by former LVRPA Ranger Dave Miller to help the dragonfly populations. The same ditch is now also supporting a colony of Water Voles. This North East London site is often referred to as Essex in the Oxford Meadows SPAC writings.

The one site known in the UK in 1995 is now designated part of the Oxford Meadows Special Area for Conservation. A Species Action Plan was drawn up in 1995 and the Rare Plants Group of the Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire was funded to carry out fieldwork under the Species Recovery Programme. The task LBCV is doing on Sunday is drawn from this work and is following a management plan from Natural England.

Join Us

As always everybody is welcome to volunteer with LBCV. No experience is required. Please wear sturdy footwear and appropriate clothing for the work and weather.

We can provide wellingtons in the morning and you must return them. So please arrive in plenty of time to select your pair. Please bring some lunch.

LBCV will provide tools, training, gloves, tea, coffee and biscuits.

Please arrive from 9:30am onwards at the Waterworks Centre Lammas Road, off Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London E10 7QT, for a 10am departure. The meeting place is the former golf centre across from the former Greyhound Public House on Lea Bridge Road. We will leave at 10am for a walk to the task site. Volunteers are welcome to meet us on site, before the tools talk, please text 07757 766950, before 9am on Sunday, so we can provide enough tools and gloves.

Please lock bicycles to the stands in front of the Waterworks Centre. There is ample free car parking there too. Dogs are not allowed on the Nature Reserve so please do not cross the bridge with dogs or ride bicycles in the nature reserve. Dogs are still welcome on some tasks, including this one, we just request that their owners wait with the LBCV catering team at the Waterworks Centre, while the tools are loaded. Please read this article if you think we are being draconian http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6978272.stm

As usual we will have post task refreshments in the Hare and Hounds on Lea Bridge Road.

Volunteering and doing a conservation task with LBCV in North East London, is great way to meet new people, learn new skills, use old skills, be more active, get closer to nature, make a difference and have some fun with like minded people in the Lea Valley Regional Park.
If you use the Facebook like us at either www.facebook.com/lbcv.org.uk or https://www.facebook.com/groups/119714882254/ if you want to be sent LBCV invites to our tasks via Facebook. LBCV is now on Twitter so if that is your social media channel https://twitter.com/LBCV_London.

Countryside Live

The countryside comes to town!

This family friendly event, bringing the countryside into London, has something for all ages and all interests.

The weekend is packed full of arena displays, falconry, sheep dogs and ferret racing and the infamous dancing sheep show. There’s also a range of traditional countryside activities to come and try including willow weaving and wood turning or if you just want to watch, you can marvel at the blacksmith demonstrating his trade.

There’s animals galore too! From the more traditional farm animals of sheep, goats, and calves, we’ve also got some smaller animals for you to have a hold of including rabbits, guinea pigs and tortoises. We’ve got some shy and unusual visitors including bats and otters and some critters from foreign places too!

Make sure you pop into see many of the local wildlife groups and organisations who can tell you all about their work in and around the Lee Valley.

If you need to take a break, then why not grab something to eat from our onsite caterers and pull up a straw bale for a well deserved rest.

Nearly all of the activities are free, but there is a small charge for a couple of them.

Please see our ‘How to find us’ page for directions and transport links. The site is located behind the Lee Valley Ice Centre and there is limited chargeable parking on site in the Lee Valley Ice Centre car park, so why not jump on the bus or your bike to come and see us.

Please note it is cash-only entry. There are no cash points on site or in the immediate vicinity.

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On Sunday 4th September 2016 Lea Bridge Conservation Volunteers will be doing a practical conservation task at the Waterworks Nature Reserve on Lea Bridge Road.

The work will help preserve the architectural heritage of these mid-late 18th century water filtration beds, constructed by East London Water Company. The filter beds were originally called the Essex Filter Beds as they were on the Essex side of the River Lea, the boundary with Middlesex. They now form the Waterworks Nature Reserve an enclosed nature reserve with one of the biggest bird hides in London, if not southern England. The nature reserve is dog free area, so unfortunately we cannot accommodate dogs on this month’s task.

The task will involve removing scrub encroaching on the open beds and walls. A selective bramble bash will be done to contain the bramble from taking over but allowing it to still provide shelter and forage in various areas, but taking back areas for the cowslips and wild flower meadows.

The removed vegetation will be used to form habitat piles away from the bed floors. Our previous buildings of habitat piles and hibernacula have meant this year’s survey of reptiles and amphibians at the Waterworks NR has seen a healthy increase.

Tools to be used include bow saws, loppers and slashers.

All welcome to join us, no experience required. Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear for the task and weather. We will be working in long reed/grass so closed shoes/boots and long trousers and sleeves will be best. Please bring some lunch or you can pop to the cafe, at the Waterworks Centre. We will provide the tools, gloves, training, tea, coffee and biscuits.

To join us, just turn up at 1 Connaught Close, E10 7QS, opposite Horse Riding Centre on Lea Bridge Road, from 9:45am to 10am. Volunteers will be at Connaught from 9:30am setting up the tools etc. We can provide wellingtons, if you do not have suitable footwear. The task site is a short walk from Connaught Close where indoor cycle parking is available.

The LBCV August task is a week early to coincide with the Community Haystacks Weekend, on Sunday 31st July 2016.

The Rangers have arranged for LBCV Volunteers and other volunteer groups in the LVRPA to have a free scything workshop with scything expert Clive Leeke from 10:30. In the afternoon there will be a chance to practise scything or to join the site ranger for a leisurely paced walk exploring Leyton and Walthamstow Marshes.

Details of the whole weekend are below. Please note the Sunday morning scything workshop is not mentioned as it is just for volunteer groups. If you cannot make Sunday morning other workshops are available on Saturday at a cost of £15 per session.